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Galdrabók's S-Class Trial: Wolf in a Maze
Steppenwolf stood at the entrance to the maze, arms crossed, a serious expression on his face. Not only was this the first phase that Steppenwolf would be facing in the trial, this would be his first time ever participating in Galdrabók's S-Class trial. Despite the fact that there was only one other opponent in the trial this year, he was still determined to win, even if the Magic Council had simply told him to participate. As he pondered what he would encounter, he remembered the words his master had told him. "A maze of illusions and traps, huh?" he said. "Doesn't sound too difficult." He crouched down onto all fours, and upon hearing the signal for the beginning of their hour, he was off. Steppenwolf was in a full sprint. While he didn't have a distinct scent or sound to locate the end, he was certain he'd be able to find the exit in an hour, especially with his superior stamina in comparison to that of a human's. It was then that he saw the first trap. A simple pit, with spikes at the bottom. Steppenwolf didn't even slow down. Collecting his Heat Magic in his feet, he ran up the side of the wall around the pit, the stone melting and giving him a foothold to get around as he continued to run. Not long after, he saw another trap. The darker colorization of the stone tiles in the ground immediately outed them as pressure plates. Still not slowing down, Steppenwolf activated his Hardening Magic, running over the pressure plates and causing several darts to shoot at him. They simply bounced off or broke upon contact with him. Just as he rounded a corner, he found himself turning over another pitfall, this time with swinging blades over it to further hinder his crossing. He still didn't slow down. He jumped into the air, his body still hardened from his earlier use of the magic, somersaulting through the momentary hole the blades made. He landed on the other side without any hassle. "My guild mates should've made more difficult challenges for me." Steppenwolf rounded another corner, this time being met by a large wyvern. "This might be more a challenge." He still didn't slow down. As a matter of fact, as his body became cloaked in his magical aura, he moved even faster. The wyvern took a swipe at Steppenwolf with his wing, but the wolf easily dodged it by jumping over it. Taking advantage of the gap in its defenses, he attacked. "Amarog Blitz!" He slammed into the wyvern's gut, sending it reeling backwards. The force of the blow was enough that the beast flipped over onto its back, unconscious in one strike. Suddenly, just as he was following through with his attack, he saw a flash. It looked like a mask, a horrific one of orange and black. It was all he could see. And despite it only lasting so briefly, it terrified him. He went into a complete stop, trembling. "What was that...?" He shook his head, driving the thought from his mind, and got back to running. It wasn't long after that Steppenwolf encountered a large bear, twice the size of a regular bear. It swiped at him with its paws. He jumped over it, and performed an axe kick on the beast's cranium. With his added Hardening Magic, it wouldn't be getting up any time soon. He kept running over its body. He barely took five steps when a swarm of more bears arrived, each one larger than the first. He bounced around the small corridor like an acrobat, punching and kicking the bears as they came towards him, Steppenwolf still refusing to stop again. Just as he had defeated the twentieth bear, a swipe came out of nowhere, striking him and sending him hurtling into the wall of the maze. Fortunately, he had braced himself with his Hardening Magic, so the damage to himself was minimal. Before him stood another bear, ten times larger than any of the others. Its paw was the size of Steppenwolf's entire body. "Looks like I defeated the cubs. Time for the mother." The Blitz Wolf leaped towards the mother. She swiped at him again. This time, he was ready, he jumped onto her arm, and fired a blast of heat from his legs to propel him up towards her chin. With his fist imbued with heat, he delivered a strong blow to the bottom of her chin, sending her staggering backwards. Unlike the wyvern, however, she didn't topple. "I guess this one's made from stronger stuff." The bear mother made a downwards swipe with her paw. Steppenwolf jumped into the air, and landed on her arm, running up it, singeing off her fur with his Heat Magic. She began to retract the limb in pain, shaking him into the air. Using the momentum to jump up above the bear. "Okami Gatling!" He fired a series of heat blasts from his feet, each one exploding on contact with her face, chest, and back. She roared in pain. Steppenwolf concentrated his Hardening Magic into his leg, spinning in the air as he aimed an axe kick towards the bear's head. "And this is the finishing blow!" The bear looked up, but what he saw wasn't the face of a mother bear, it was the mask. He lost focus, his kick hitting the ground in front of the bear. Before he could recover, the beast struck him in the side, slamming onto the wall. He didn't have time to Harden his body, and the damage was much more detrimental than before. There was a large gash on his side. As he began to collect himself, he spit up some blood. "This is getting really annoying." The bear charged at him. He stood resolute. At the speed of a bullet, he charged the bear. His limbs cloaked in heat, he struck it. Over and over, a barrage of punches and kicks directly into its face. With another uppercut he sent it staggering backwards. He went for another swipe, but Steppewolf was prepared for this one. He moved to side, kicked it in its jaw, causing it to rear upwards on its hind legs. With it's stomach exposed, he dealt the finishing blow, and strong punch to its gut. The light left its eyes as the bear fell to the ground, unconscious. He had defeated the beast, but he still felt uneasy, the image of the mask still burned in his memory. "Gotta keep moving." Steppenwolf quickly cauterized the wounds he had received, gritting his teeth as he did so, and continued his journey through the maze. From that point onwards, Steppenwolf didn't encounter a single new trap. There was the occasional pitfall, but nothing too difficult for him to avoid. Steppenwolf, for the first time without an obstacle blocking his path, stopped. The path had become completely straight. There were no visible traps, no turns, not even an insect, it was unsettlingly quiet and easy. Steppenwolf took a step into the path, then another, then three. It didn't seem like there were any problems. He resumed his running speed. He had barely picked up his sprint again when the ground underneath him began to cave in. His animal senses and heat sensing would've ordinarily allowed him to sense this great hole in the ground, but no. He collected his strength, and jumped off the stone he was on before he was past the point of no return, returning to the ground, and going in an all out sprint. He ran across the path again, with the earth beneath him crumbling, him barely managing to stay ahead of it. But just when he was near the end of the path, he could see the exit, the mask returned. He stopped dead in his tracks, the ground crumbling beneath him. He cried out in fear as he fell into the dark abyss, the mask staring down at him the whole time. The wolf's eyes opened, as if he had just awoken from a bad dream. He got off of the ground, barely a few steps away from the corridor he had come from. He rubbed his eyes, removing the dust from them. "How long was I asleep?" He looked at the timer he was given before the event. He barely had ten minutes left. Without another second of hesitation, he bolted down the hallway, clearing it within seconds. At this point, the entire maze was just a series of turns, no more traps. The illusion that had been casted on him had served its purpose, taking up most of his time. Steppenwolf couldn't afford to make any wrong turns, lest he run out of time. He let his instincts do the talking, taking turns to avoid dead ends and any traps that might still be in the area. With, two minutes to spare, he made his way to the exit. A smile actually curled onto his face. He was going to make it! But then he stopped dead in his tracks. His heart pounded as he saw the mask floating over the exit to the maze. He was paralyzed, he couldn't take another step. His breath became heavy and fast, his heart beating a mile a minute. "Come on..." he murmured to yourself, "you're so close." Steppenwolf took a single step, before another wave of fear took hold of him. He couldn't look away. The longer he stared at it, the more dread he felt, yet he couldn't avert his eyes. It was worse than the Lunar Eclipse Eyes. He couldn't think of what to do next. That's when he remembered his heritage. Despite his stature and great power as a Mage, he still wasn't human. Steppenwolf's instincts kicked in. In a real situation, as an animal, he would either fight or run away, the latter was the proper response to a creature stronger than he was. He had taken down every beast in this labyrinth, no problem. This mask wouldn't be any different. He took a step forward, but another wave of fear washed over him. He steeled his nerves and took another step, another wave. A look of aggression came onto his face as he took a third step. But he wasn't angry at the mask, his guild master or guild mates for making this challenge, he was mad himself. "A true warrior, a true wolf, does not fear his enemies!" By this point his right in front of the mask. "He faces them!" He brought his fist into the mask, shattering it to pieces. But that wasn't the only thing that shattered. The entire maze surrounding him shattered into pieces. Steppenwolf found himself in the same spot that the maze had begun at. Not only that, but he was completely healed. The entire maze itself was an illusion. Steppenwolf looked at his timer; he had two seconds left on it. "Good enough," he said to himself, sitting down on the ground as he panted from the mental and physical exhaustion.